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Amazon echo is their attempt at a smart phone without a screen.

• cptskippy 9y ago
  That's not how anyone should look at a smart speakers because it's fundamentally flawed. A smart phone is a very intimate and personal device. A smart speaker is the exact opposite of that. It needs to be easily multiuser out of the box. The Echo worked because it was user oblivious but the new communication features break that model and are decidedly user specific and functionally retarded.
  • lukejduncan 9y ago
    I love my echo, but I hate that it thinks it's user oblivious. Take "alexa play music" which will play recommended artists based on your listening history. All it plays is garbage (in terms of my tastes) because 1) my wife LOVES cold play and listens to that a lot 2) my mom lived with us for a few months to help with kids and now it thinks I reaaaaly like Christian rock (I don't). So music recommendations, a key feature, is worthless. Plus, if you have an audible or Spotify account it's definitely tightly coupled to user profiles. I can play my Spotify songs on Echo from my phone by selecting "My devices" but my wife can't, so she has a speedster Bluetooth speaker she uses because it's just easier for her. Amazon Echo is pretty good, but it's biggest most annoying flaw is the way it handles multiple users as if they are one.